Antonio Villaraigosa on War & Peace

End wars & spend in US in stead of Baghdad and Kandahar

The US Conference of Mayors passed a resolution urging President Obama and Congress to get their act together and "speed up the ending of these wars." The conflicts are costing the United States $126 billion a year, the resolution said, and the money
would be better spent on repairing America's broken economy and infrastructure and on reducing the federal debt.

"It's time to bring our investments back home," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles said as he assumed the presidency of the mayors
conference at its annual gathering, held in Baltimore. "We can't be building roads and bridges in Baghdad and Kandahar, and not in Baltimore and Kansas City."

The resolution could hardly be considered flamingly radical, not with its call to end the
wars "as soon as strategically possible" and to withdraw American forces "in a measured way that does not destabilize the region." That's a far cry from, "Out--now!"

Indeed, "it reflects in large part what the president believes," Villaraigosa said.

Death of bin Laden reminder to guard against threats

The announcement tonight by President Obama that Osama bin Laden has been killed is indeed historic, but we must continue to be vigilant and remain on guard against those that still seek to harm us.

We must also recognize that members of the
Muslim community are and have been our partners against terrorism. They have worked side by side with us for years, and we have stood together against hatred and united as one nation against terrorism.